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Strange Issues

Hi all,

I have a 8-station autmatic system and two of the stations are doing something a bit strange and have been doing so since I bought the house 6 years ago.

When I turn on station 3, station 6 also comes on at about 1/3 the normal pressure, wasting water. Likewise, when I turn on station 6, station 3 will come on at about 1/3 pressure. I have ruled out an electrical problem by disconnecting station 3 and turning on #6... the other one still comes on at reduced pressure.

I cannot figure out why this is happening or what can be causing it. It almost seems like there is some sort of internal connection between the pipes on the two lines but the fact that the other station comes on at reduced pressure is a bit baffling. I would think that if they were interconnected then they would always both come on at the same pressure no matter the station that you activate. Is there some sort of check valve or the like that can be causing this? There is nothing obvious and I have no idea where to look for something like this or if it is even standard.

I know nothing about sprinkler systems so need your advice here. Where do I look next to troubleshoot?

Did you disconnect the wire at the valve itself or just at the controller?

I did it at the controller as it was easier. From the direction of your question I should try it at the valve itself...? I will do so this evening.

Also, if this helps, I think I remember trying a couple other things... I "felt" the selonoid to try to determine if there was something activating it as you can usually feel a humming in the things when they are on - nothin on the valve that was supposedly off. Also, I tried cranking down the valve to see if I could turn off the water manually - you know that X-looking thing on top... Screwing it down all the way made no difference. Hoever, this was a while back so I'll try everything again this evening and report back tomorrow.

Further Troubleshooting

I disconnected the wire from station 2 (not 3 as I previously said) and turned on station 6: water comes out of the station 2 heads at ~ 1/3 pressure. I then reconnected the wire.

I turned on station 2 and water comes out of station 6 at 1/3 pressure: disconnecting the wire does nothing to stop the flow here either.

I turned on station 2 and cranked down the valve until the water flow out of the sprinkler heads came to a complete stop. I then turned off station 2 and turned on station 6: water comes out of the station 2 heads at 1/3 pressure.

So, it looks like it is not valve or controller related - at least not the electrical I guess. It also seems that the lines are not completely connected together or the water would always come out of both at the same pressure (I think). What can possibly be going wrong to make this happen? I am willing to dig up things but have no idea where to start if I need to. Stations 2 and 6 are on different parts of the property as well. It would seem that there is some sort of valve installed somewhere that connects the two pipes that is supposed to prevent flow between the two that is failing. However, this is a wild guess and I have never heard of such a thing nor do I see the reason something like that would be installed.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! This is such a waste of water.

Interesting post. I haven't had much time to think about it but supposing the two lines are indeed connected together.

There's probably too many heads on one line now. So the heads at the end of the line don't have full pressure.

When 6 comes on 2 is at the end of the line. When 2 comes on 6 is at the end of the line. Try observing where you think they might be connected. You can tell from the gradual loss of pressure. Then dig up the pipe. Cut it and cap it on both sides. Maybe someone else can come up with something.